William ebwin elam



(No Model.)

W. E. ELAM.

- TEMPORARY BINDER.

No. 294175. I Patented Mar. 11, 1884 WITNESSES A 1- VEJV T OR 3 wizzzlzvnazfz'lzwa 9%9 .dttorney Nrrnn STATES PATENT rerun.

TEMPORARY BINDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 294,775, dated March 11, 1884.

' Application filed December 31, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

.Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. ELAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Americus, in the county of Sumter and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Temporary Binders; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, .clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making apart of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked there- Figure l of the drawings is a perspective view of my invention; Fig. 2, a'similar view of a simplified form of said invention, and Fig. 3 a like view of a modification of the same.-

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in temporary binders for letters, bills, prescriptions, or other like papers, and has for its object to provide such a device, simple, inexpensive, and durable in construction, upon which the papers to be filed or temporarily bound may be quickly placed without disarrangement or removal of any constituent part, andwhen thus placed in position will be held down, so as not to clog or make .it inconvenient to add others when the binder is nearly full, thus admitting of the same being used to its utmost capacity, while at the same time any particular paper may be easily referred to or entirely extracted from the file without confusing those remaining thereonfand, when found desirable or necessary, all the papers may be readily strung for permanent binding without their removal from this temporary. binder. These several ob jects I attain by the construction substantially as shown in the accompanying drawings, and

hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, A represents a base of any suitable materal, having therein a narrow latas hereinafter described.

ina mortise cut in the base to form a seat therefor, these standards being placed over wire stubs d, secured to the base, and which prevent lateral displacement of said standards.

When the standards are placed in position upon the wire stubs d, a pivoted plate, 0, is brought around over the right-angularprojee tions 0 to retain said standards upon the base, suitable openings being cut in the upper edge of this plate to engage the upright portion of the standards, and the outer end of said plate turned up, as shown at e, to form a finger-hold, and comes against a stop or latch, f ,which secures the same in place.

Secured to the base A,above the receivingstandards B, are posts D,upon which work the ends of an adjustable guard, E, so constructed that the normal position of its horizontal portion 9 will be in abutment against said standards, for the purpose hereinafter described. This guard is constructed of any suitable material and arrangement of parts found most desirable; but in its simplest form is composed of a single wire bent and twisted substantially as shown in Fig. 1.

Secured to the base A, near its upper end, is a device, F, forming a means for suspending the binder from a nail or other support. Its lower extremity, h, being of a springy nature, terminates in a catch, z, for engaging the horizontal portion 9 of the guard E when the same is desired to be held back or away from the receivingstandards B. The base A has also secured thereto uprights G, of any desirable or convenient form, their free ends being provided with springs 10, which come against the points or knife-edged extensions 1) of the receiving-standards B, said springs being con nected to these uprights in any suitable manner; or the free ends of said uprights may be, reduced or tapered down to form springs in themselves when properly tempered. These springs, impinging against the ends of the receiving-standards,prevent the papers being removed from the binder unaided.

Inserted in the base Ais one'end of a single wire, H, spirally twisted or bent, as shown at Z, to form aspring and turned downright an gularly at its free end m, this said end entering a depression or opening in a metallic plate, a, mortised in the base. This wire and metallic plate form together a perforator for puncturing the papers before putting upon the receiving-standards, thus forming a necessary and useful appendage to the binder without materially increasing its cost of manufacture.

In the operation of my invention, when it is desired to file a paper, the same is suitably punctured by the perforator above described, and is then held with both hands over against the extremities of the receiving-standards B, the edges projecting a short distance beyond. As the paper is pressed toward the base A, the spring ends I) of the uprights G and the guard E are forced back to admit its passage, said spring ends and guard automatically adjusting themselves to position immediately after being passed by the paper. After a number of papers have been filed, the adjustable guard E is brought down to hold the same compactly on the receiving-standards B, so as to prevent clogging, or render it inconvenient to add other paper when the file or binder is nearly full, thereby admitting of the same being used to its utmost capacity, the guard pre venting the papers from working off when the file is being handled.

Vhen any particular paper is needed for reference or removal from the file, the guard E is engaged and held back by the catch 2' at the lower extremity of the device F, and the papers above the one particularly desired are passed back over upon the uprights F, out of the way, when the spring ends k of said uprights are pressed back, and the paper lifted off the standards.

At any time it is desired to permanently bind the papers on the receiving-standards, the ends of a cord or wire are passed up through said standards from the rear of the base, leaving aconsiderable portion of this cord or wire in the slot a against the back of the papers. The guard E is now pressed back and secured as already described, the ends of the cord or wire grasped in one hand and the spring ends of the uprights G held back with the other, when by a slight pull the papers come off strung, and are secured by simply tying the ends of said cord or wire, this operation being performed when the receiving-standards are slotted their entire length. XVhen, however, the standards are not slotted, the pivoted plate 0 is swung back, and the receiving-standards removed with the papers, said papers being bound by passing the cord or wire through these standards and then withdrawing them, leaving the papers strung upon said wire or cord, which only needs tying to complete the binding. Immediately upon being released from pressure the spring ends of the uprights G resume their normal position, the guard, being freed, comes against the receiving-standards, and the binder is again ready for use.

In the drawings is represented by Fig. 2 a

simplified form of my binder, which is substantially the same as the one just described, with the exception that the slot in the base is omitted and but one receivingstandard and upright is employed, said receiving-standard in this instance being necessarily unslotted, and, instead of stringing the papers for permanent binding in either of the ways just described, the cord or wire may be inserted in the standard from the top, and the papers drawn up thereon, this being a simple and easy operation.

Fig. 3 of the drawings shows a modification of my invention, which consists of a suitable base adapted to be suspended from a wall or other support, and is provided with a receiving-standard slotted throughout its length, and secured in a slot formed in said base open at its outer end. This base has also secured thereto a guard-post, provided with a guard formed of a single wire, which, when the binder is hung up, will of its own gravity drop to a vertical position and prevent the papers on the receiving-standard from working off.

Above the guard-post is secured to the base a suitable upright, having pivotally connected to its outer end a curved wire,which normally impinges against the outer end of the receiving-standard, and which, when it is desired to remove the papers thereon, is swung around out of the way.

To remove and permanently bind the pa pers upon the receiving-standard, a cord or wire is inserted in the same and the papers drawn off, this cord or wire coming free ofthe binder through the slotted standard and open slot in the base.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a temporary binder, the combination, with the receiving-standards thereof, of a pivoted and slotted plate and a stop or latch for holding the plate engaged with the standards, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A temporary binder for letters or other papers, consisting of a suitable base, having removably secured thereto a receiving standard or standards, and an upright or uprights terminating in spring ends normally impinging against said standard or standards, and a suitable guard for holding said papers compactly upon the standards, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. The base of a temporary binder for letters or other similar papers, provided with a transverse slot, having secured therein and to the base suitable receiving-standards, in combination with confining-uprights, also secured to the base, and terminating in springs normally impinging against the upper extremities of the standards, an adjustable guard, and means, substantially as described, for holding this guard out of contact with said standards, for the purpose set forth.

4.. A temporary binder consisting of a slot- ICC ted base, having connected thereto hollow grooved receiving-standards provided with sharpened extensions, and suitable confininguprightshaving their free ends terminating 5 in springs engaging with the extensions of the standards, in combination with a guard normally abutting against said standards and adjustable upon posts secured to the base, and a device forming a meansfor holding the guard 10 out of contact with the standards, and a hanger for the binder, substantially as shown andde scribed.

5. A temporary binder for letters or other papers, consisting of a base provided with pro- I 5 jecting stubs, in combination with hollow receiving-standards, constructed to fit over and upon said stubs, and provided with right-an- 

